RE: Screen captures (was RE: TECHWR-L Digest, Vol 35, Issue 14)

["Michael West" <mbwest -at- bigpond -dot- com>]

> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:
> techwr-l-bounces+kevin -dot- mclauchlan=safenet-inc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> >
> >  >>Real-world business results trump "research" every time.
> >
> > How does one measure success in technical writing and documentation in
> > the "real world"? Do many companies conduct usability studies on the
> > help file, or do they assume that users are proficient because of the
> > help file?
> >
> > I guess I'm asking whether real-world business uses "research,"
> > research, or another method to determine the efficacy of help.
> 
> Real-world business uses:
> 
> Did you get it out the door on time?
> Did you get it done while also having time to do all your other
> projects?
> Did we get more/fewer calls to Customer Support after the current
> release hit the street?

Yes, those are some of the constraints we work under. But my reason for
making that assertion is based on the fact that no academic "research" can
match all the variables intrinsic to real-world technical communications
issues. I listed some of them earlier; here are some of them again:
	-Audience subject matter knowledge
	-Media
	-Artefact quality
	-Job performance conditions
	-Audience language proficiency
	-Learning objective (Training or reference?)
	-GUI complexity, density, usability, etc.

Every job is different. I am thankful that this is the case.

And another reason for being very careful with screen captures in printed
instructional material is that most whole-screen shots are at least 50% dead
space. Most of the audiences I've worked with greatly prefer their job aids
to be compact. Generally, the more pages you give them, the less likely they
are to even look at any of them. For this reason I carefully edit screen
captures so that they clearly show three things, and (ideally) nothing else:
	1) What's the thing I'm looking for?
	2) Where do I find it?
	3) When I've found it, what do I do with it?

I've had great success with this approach in reference material. I use a
different paradigm for training material, depending on the training
environment.
-
Mike West

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and 
publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical 
authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial.
http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.